Zombies, Elmo and the Power of Obsession to Achieve Your Dreams

I have a confession – I’ve had an obsession with zombies since I was a kid; planning elaborate escape plans, having recurring nightmares and worrying about my ability to cope in a zombie invasion (I hate running).

I thought I had my zombie obsession under control, but the zombie series The Walking Dead, just made its way to Australia and my obsession is back with a vengeance.

I’ve only watched the first two episodes so far and I’m freaking out. For two nights in a row, I’ve had zombie nightmares and instead of thinking about my dream house or other inspiring goals, I’ve been obsessing over things like…

Can zombies can climb stairs? The movies are unclear on this point…

Which room in our apartment would be the safest from a zombie hoard? Damn, I can’t believe we live on the first floor – what was I thinking?!

How could I get my hands on a gun? I wish I lived in Texas, Australia doesn’t have enough guns!

And then I said to my husband Mark on our morning walk…

“I think we’d be safe in a zombie invasion because we live on a hill. If zombies are walking aimlessly, they’d eventually start walking downhill and then they probably wouldn’t start walking up again. Makes sense, right?”

Woah, light bulbs.

I caught myself in that moment and realised how much of my attention was fully occupied with ZOMBIES. How is that going to help me manifest my dreams?

Highly emotional thoughts are even more powerful than dream boards or goal setting. So are you choosing good ones?

What’s your Zombie Obsession?

Everyone’s got their own negative obsession. What do you obsess over and where do you waste your time and energy?

Politics – getting angry about the latest election, the corruption of politicians and getting into debates with family with diametrically opposed opinions

Gossip – Gossiping about celebrities, bitching about ex-friends and obsessing over the Kardashians. Getting into drama and negativity can be addictive.

Work – Your boss might be the most frustrating human on earth, your work colleagues are idiots and you haven’t gotten a pay increase for 5 years. So bitching about it is kinda satisfying, right?

Other random stuff that riles you up – Your weight, your husband’s annoying habit, the price of organic avocados, people who don’t scoop the poop, Sarah Palin, that person who stole your parking spot…

Every second spent obsessive over negativity is making an impact and it compounds over time. Nobody is perfect and has complete control over their thoughts but you can weigh the odds in your favour.

What’s Elmo got to do with Zombies?

I’m obsessed with success stories and I LOVE Elmo, so I was excited to see a new movie about Kevin Clash, Elmo’s puppeteer, who dreamed of working with Jim Henson since he was ten years old. Similar to my Oscar’s post, this is about the power of positive obsession to achieve your dreams.

This is an amazingly inspiring story of Kevin’s obsession of working with the Muppets. He created his own opportunities, literally making his own puppets and putting on shows which has led to living his dream as creative producer on Sesame Street. He has made Elmo a household name and not only that – spreads love and joy with his creation. Who doesn’t love Elmo?!

The power of obsession can lead to amazing things, especially when you never give up. That’s why it’s so important to watch your daily thoughts.

I doubt that I’m going to manifest a zombie invasion, but what’s going to help me achieve my goal of selling a million copies of Lucky Bitch?

Watching zombie movies and obsessing about my zombie escape plan

vs.

Watching success stories and realising that dreams will come true if you’re obsessed about creating good in the world

So, if you’ve been guilty of letting your thoughts wander, you have two choices here…

Eliminate obsessions that distract you

In critical times (when you’re finishing writing your book or getting ready to launch a new project), just eliminate the distractions. Turn off the TV, save up the gossip blogs or limit your social media time to 1 hour a day. Choose not to get involved in things that make you angry, you can’t change EVERYTHING in the world, so give yourself permission to be ignorant of negative influences.

Monitor your obsessive thoughts

You alone are responsible for what you obsess about. Zombies or inspiration? You can still watch the scary movies, get involved in politics and read gossip magazines, just watch how it makes you feel and instead of getting passionately engrossed, just smile and say “Isn’t that interesting?“